Bicycle security tips

Cammy Team

December 16, 2016

One of the best things you can do is to make it as difficult as possible for a thief to ride away on your precious bike. Bicycle theft is a serious concern with thousands of bikes stolen every year and sadly most bikes are never recovered.

So to help you be proactive and protect your bike from theft we have put together some bicycle security tips for you:

Lock it up:

Bike thieves need to operate quickly to reduce the risk of being caught, so a good bike lock is crucial to bicycle security.

A heavy duty lock is harder for thieves to break and the result is often that the thief will give up and move onto a less secure bike. A strong chain that’s at least 12mm thick will delay thieves for the longest.

Never rely solely on a cable lock to secure your bike, these cables can be easily chopped with wire cutters.

One of the best things you can do for bicycle security is to use high-quality bike locks – for tips on how to choose the best bike lock click here.

How to lock it up:

One easy bicycle security tip is to try to park your bike with other bikes when locking it up. If you have strong security measures to protect your bike and the surrounding bikes have poor security then their bikes will be targeted first.

Try to lock your bike in a public place that is well-lit with plenty of foot traffic, as thieves don’t like an audience.

Lock your bike to an immovable object and make sure to lock both wheels to the frame and take any removable items with you.

Make sure that your lock isn’t touching the ground because this makes it easy for thieves to sledgehammer it off.

When at home make sure to bring your bike inside at night and out of view from thieves.

Even if your bike is inside a garage or shed make sure that it is locked up to an immovable object.

If you have to keep your bike outside, in your backyard or in a garage think about installing security cameras to monitor your bike. That way you can keep an eye on it when you are not using it and get alerted if an intruder is detected near your bike.

Be proactive:

Write your bike’s serial number down and have someone photograph you displaying it next to your bike. This helps to ensure that Police will be able to trace your bike back to you if it is stolen and recovered.

Mark your bike with identifiable features, such as marking your initials on the bike. Thieves don’t want to take something that is easily identifiable. Photos and unique characteristics — a sticker here and a funky component there are helpful for post-theft identification.

To help with your bicycle security register your bike with Police approved site bike register. Police use this site to match stolen items with their rightful owners and the site also enables you to check a second-hand bike isn’t listed as stolen on their databases.

Make sure you insure your bike. Bikes can cost as much as a piece of jewellery or a new TV so make sure your home content insurance covers your bike.

We hope that you never have you to deal with your bike being stolen, but these preventative measures should help to protect your bike from thieves. For more information on how thieves think and how you can protect yourself from theft read our blog that delves inside the mind of a burglar or our confessions of a burglar blog.